Course Syllabus

Welcome to Real-World Project Management in Computer Science!

My name is Eric Vogel, and I have the pleasure of being the instructor for this course. I will do my best to provide you an informative and encouraging course with a great learning experience. If you have any suggestions on this course, you're welcome to contact me at any time.

This course allows you to create a software product of your choice, structured as a software development project and following common industry practices for project management. Material presented guides you in planning your project, then provides you with mechanisms for reporting on your project throughout the term until the final submission is due.

Topics

We will be covering six topics geared towards helping you select, plan for, execute, and then report on your project:

• Project Motivations
• Managing Risks
• Project Planning
• Managing Changes
• Periodic Reporting
• Final Reporting and Demonstration

Tools

The tools you will use will be entirely dependent on your chosen project.

Course Structure

Considering this is an independent study course, you will be spending most of your time pursuing your project. That said, there are some crucial benchmarks you will need to cover along with weekly reports during the development of your project.

• Project Motivations
• Managing Risks
• Project Planning

During the first module, you will be asked to examine your personal motivations, characterize possible risks to successful completion, and create a Project Plan.

• Managing Changes

As your project or product changes, you will need to make adjustments to your Project Plan.

• Weekly Reports

During the development of your project, you will need to report your progress weekly to the instructor.

• Final Project Report, Final Product Deliverables & Demonstration

At the end of the course, you will not only have produced a product, but you will write a report about the project and the experience of development.

• Office Hours:

There will be no regularly scheduled office hours for this course because each student will have unique-to-them questions. Please refer to Start Here - Instructor Information & Communication Policy for how to schedule a meeting if you feel it is required.

My Expectations

Your measure of success will largely be defined by you in your Project Plan (with my agreement). Therefore, it is important that you stay on top of your work so you can meet the expectations laid out in the plan. If things start going south, it is my expectation that you will reach out immediately and not wait until it is too late to make adjustments.

Please go over all the content in the Start Here module. Read the course syllabus carefully. It is also a good idea to look ahead to what you will be expected to produce at the end of the term so you can make informed decisions to maximize your chances of success.

Meet the Instructor

Download the syllabus here: CS 469 Syllabus

Course Name: Real-World Project Management in Computer Science

Course Number: CS 469

Credits: 2

Terms Offered: Every Term

For longer projects, CS 469 can be repeated for up to 16 credits total. Of those, a maximum of 6 credits combined between CS 469 and CS 406 can be applied toward an OSU CS degree.

Course Description

This course allows you to create a software product of your choice under the structure of a software project. Material presented guides you in planning a project, then provides you with mechanisms for reporting on your project throughout the term and managing changes until the project and product are complete.

Prerequisites: none

Eric Vogel, Instructor

• Email: eric.vogel@oregonstate.edu

Course Topics

We will be covering six topics geared towards helping you select, plan for, execute, and then report on your project:

• Motivations
• Managing Risks
• Project Planning
• Managing Changes
• Periodic Reporting
• Final Reporting and Demonstration

Course Schedule

You can see the assignment due dates in Canvas.

Topics by Weeks — Fall, Winter, Spring Terms
Week	Topics	Due
1	Motivations	Flowchart: Understanding Our Own Motivations Discussion: Post-Project Actions
2	Project Planning Managing Risks	Risk Management Assignment
3	Project Planning Managing Changes	Project Plan
4	Periodic Reporting	Change Management Quiz Week 3 Progress Report
5	Periodic Reporting	Week 4 Progress Report
6	Periodic Reporting	Week 5 Progress Report
7	Periodic Reporting	Week 6 Progress Report
8	Periodic Reporting	Week 7 Progress Report
9	Periodic Reporting	Week 8 Progress Report
10	Final Reporting	Week 9 (last) Progress Report
11	Final Reporting	Final Project Demonstration Final Project Report

 

 

Topics by Weeks — Summer Term
Week	Topics	Due
1	Motivations	Flowchart: Understanding Our Own Motivations Discussion: Post-Project Actions
2	Project Planning Managing Risks	Risk Management Assignment
3	Project Planning Managing Changes	Project Plan
4	Periodic Reporting	Change Management Quiz Week 3 Progress Report
5	Periodic Reporting	Week 4 Progress Report
6	Periodic Reporting	Week 5 Progress Report
7	Final Reporting	Week 6 (last) Progress Report
8	Final Reporting	Final Project Demonstration Final Project Report

Textbooks

There are no required textbooks for this course.

Assignments

This course has six assignments, one quiz, and seven graded weekly progress reports (four Summer term).

Grading Policy

Letter Grade	Percentage Floor
A	92
A-	90
B+	88
B	82
B-	80
C+	78
C	72
C-	70
D+	68
D	62
D-	60
F	0

 

Grade Weighting

There are no weighted categories for assignments. Each assignment is assigned a given number of points. The final grade percentage will be determined using .

Late Policy

 

Requests for extensions are considered on a case-by-case basis. Non-emergency requests must be submitted via email at least 48 hours before the due time. (Not having enough time to get the assignment done does not, by itself, constitute an emergency, sorry!). If you don't know if you will need an extension but might, you should ask for one.

Time elapsed past the due date	Penalty Applied (if no extension is granted)
T< 24 hours	-10%
T< 48 hours	-25%

 

Establishing a Positive Community

It is important you feel safe and welcome in this course. If somebody is making discriminatory comments against you, sexually harassing you, or excluding you in other ways, contact the instructor, your academic advisor, and/or report what happened at https://studentlife.oregonstate.edu/studentconduct/reporting so we can connect you with resources.

Accommodations

Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty, and Disability Access Services (DAS). Students with accommodations approved by DAS are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through DAS should contact DAS immediately at 541-737-4098.

Students with documented disabilities who may need accommodations, who have any emergency medical information the instructor should be aware of, or who need special arrangements in the event of an evacuation, should make an appointment with the instructor as early as possible, and no later than the first week of the term. Class materials will be made available in an accessible format upon request.

If you have a really tough situation that might affect your progress a lot (illness, job duties, family emergency...), you should contact the instructor immediately. Don't wait until the due date or later to explain your personal situation and ask for an extension. If you are not sure whether to ask for it, better do so.

• Email: eric.vogel@oregonstate.edu

Communication Policy

• Always use your OSU email to contact me. The Canvas mailbox isn't as reliable a communication approach.
• When you send me an email, you must include the tag "[CS 469]" in your email subject.

You should expect a response to emails within 24 business hours. Emails sent over the weekend sometimes take longer to respond to.

• TA online office hours:

There will be no regularly scheduled office hours for this course because each student will have unique-to-them questions. Please refer to Start Here - Instructor Information & Communication Policy for how to schedule a meeting if you feel it is required.

There is no textbook for this course.

NOTE: Some links on this page may only be accessible to registered students.